


sixty degree angles

by lavender (yestoday)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Multi, Sneaking Out, non-au, norenmin being super in love, one tiny makeout scene
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-20 16:55:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14265504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yestoday/pseuds/lavender
Summary: What happens in LA stays in LA.(Alternatively: Jaemin, Renjun and Jeno sneak out together three times.)





	1. jaemin

**Author's Note:**

> i just realised nomin are super whipped for renjun, but then again who isn’t? also bǎobèi means baby/precious it's a chinese term of endearment

It’s Jaemin’s first time in Los Angeles.

Actually, this is Jaemin’s first time in the United States, period. He’s excited to be out of South Korea, but at the same time he knows they’re here for work.

He’s reminded of that fact when his alarm rings at 4 in the morning and their manager hustles them along the empty corridors into the elevators. Jaemin catches sight of pretty buildings and scenery through the window of the car as they’re speeding along the streets, but eventually he still winds up seated in a chair with several makeup brushes poking at his face.

Filming goes smoothly on the first day, thankfully. He hasn’t done this in a while, and it feels a bit like having his head dunked in cold water, but the other members make it better.

By the time it ends, Jaemin’s been awake for eighteen hours and is in severe need of food. They grab dinner at a fast food joint close to the filming location of the day, and then begin traveling back to the hotel close to midnight.

Jaemin naps on the journey. It’s just too comfortable not to fall asleep, Renjun already dozing off with his head on Jaemin’s shoulder and Jeno tapping softly at his phone on Jaemin’s other side—probably texting Jaehyun or Doyoung (not that they’re mutually exclusive, along with Taeyong) about their day.

The three of them occupy the last row of the van, like they always try to do. Jisung and Chenle are squished together in the front row, in much closer proximity than is really necessary but probably seeking each other’s warmth. They leave a lot of space in the row for Donghyuck, who leans forward to murmur in low tones with Mark, in the passenger seat.

It’s all just so _nice_ that Jaemin falls asleep ten minutes after they get onto the highway.

He’s woken up by the beep emitted by the car door when it slides open in the parking lot of their hotel. Jisung and Chenle stumble out, followed by Donghyuck, leaving the three occupants of the back row still in the car. Their manager has disappeared, probably to the front desk to arrange for their transportation tomorrow morning. They’ve got their own key cards.

Jeno smiles when he sees Jaemin’s eyes open. “You awake enough to help me carry this one?” He points his thumb at Renjun, who sleeps like the dead and is still off in peaceful dreamland.

Jaemin rubs at his eyes, clearing away the grogginess, and nods yes. It takes him and Jeno a little while to maneuver quietly so that they don’t wake Renjun up. They get him out of the car eventually, Jaemin facing front holding onto Renjun’s legs and Jeno behind with his arms hooked underneath the smaller boy’s.

It’s kind of a precarious situation, but neither Jeno nor Jaemin have the energy to carry Renjun alone right now. And hell would freeze over before they’d make him wake up to walk on his own.

They make it up to their floor in an empty lift. Their other four bandmates have disappeared, probably eager to wash up and fall into their proper beds. Or their proper bed singular, in the case of Mark and Donghyuck, who platonically need each other beside them to fall asleep.

 _Platonically_ , Donghyuck always insists.

Jaemin carefully transfers Renjun into Jeno’s arms bridal-style for a short moment, fiddling with the door to their room. It’s not really their room; Renjun actually rooms with Chenle for this trip, but it’s always been the unwritten rule that the three of them come as a package.

Besides, that means Jisung gets to sleep over with Chenle instead of in the managers’ room, so everyone’s happy.

Jaemin swipes the keycard and holds the door open for Jeno to enter first. He pulls back the blanket on his bed so that Jeno can lay Renjun down in it.

Both of them stop and stare for a moment, equally mesmerized by the Chinese boy’s delicate features.

“He’s so pretty, isn’t he?” Jeno marvels, his hand finding Jaemin’s.

“He’s beautiful,” Jaemin agrees wholeheartedly, squeezing Jeno’s fingers. He watches the way Renjun’s eyelashes brush against his creamy skin; how his chest rises and falls with his even breaths. Renjun looks so small all the time. It makes Jaemin want to protect him.

“We should wash our makeup off,” Jeno suggests quietly, pulling Jaemin by the hand towards the bathroom.

They share the sink, using cotton balls and cleanser to carefully wipe strips of makeup off their skin. Jaemin takes out his contacts and blinks rapidly, letting his eyes adjust. Jeno hands him his glasses from his side of the sink, and Jaemin thanks him with a brief kiss to the cheek.

Renjun makes this cute unconscious whining noise when Jeno and Jaemin try to clean his makeup off. He wrinkles his nose in his sleep, and Jaemin has to resist the urge to coo. Jeno laughs silently and leans down to press his lips affectionately to Renjun’s forehead. Jaemin does the same, because Renjun is just a little bit irresistible.

They manage to complete their task without waking Renjun up. By then, Jaemin is so tired he’s about to just fall asleep standing up.

Jeno climbs into Jaemin’s bed, leaving room for Jaemin to clamber in. Renjun fits comfortably between them, and when Jaemin throws an arm across Renjun’s waist, he finds Jeno’s hand there too. Their fingers intertwine together in the dark, and Jaemin goes to sleep feeling like a part of a completed puzzle.

* * *

They don’t have to be awake until 8am, much unlike the previous day, which means theoretically Jaemin should get to sleep in. However, when he sleepily reaches to grab his phone and check the time, it only reads 3.37am.

Renjun’s not in the bed anymore, but judging by the sound of water running and soft singing filtering through the wall, he’s taking a shower. In retrospect, maybe they all should’ve showered before going to bed, but then again that was only three hours ago. They’d really just taken a nap. As is the life of an idol.

Jaemin contemplates returning to sleep, but concedes that he feels icky and should probably hop in the bathroom. He shifts off the bed slowly to rummage through his luggage in search of clean clothes. When he turns back around, he finds Jeno staring at him.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” Jaemin mumbles, but it’s so quiet that his voice rings clearly through the room. Jeno sits up probably, his eyes curling into slits as he smiles.

“No, I was already up,” Jeno reassures him, yawning a little. His hair is all mussed up; it’s cute.

The bathroom door slides open and Renjun steps out, still humming under his breath, ruffling his wet hair with a towel. He looks up, and does a double take when he sees both Jaemin and Jeno watching him.

“Good morning?” Renjun says, making it sound like a question in bewilderment. “Why are you two awake so early?”

“We could ask you the same thing,” Jeno remarks playfully, getting up so he can pad towards Renjun. He drops a quick kiss on Renjun’s lips, then does a U turn so he can do the same to Jaemin, before taking advantage of the stunned silence he earns to claim the bathroom for himself.

“He’s a menace,” Jaemin pouts, sitting down on the unused bed and crossing his arms. Renjun sits next to him and wraps his arms around Jaemin.

“I know.” He pets Jaemin’s hair soothingly. They cuddle for a little while, until Jeno finally comes out of the bathroom and takes Jaemin’s place when the youngest of their trio goes to shower.

Jaemin finishes his shower and exits the bathroom to find that both Jeno and Renjun have migrated to the window and are gazing outside, awestruck.

It’s nearing 4am and the sun is still nowhere in sight, but the streets are lit up with orange streetlights and luminous signs. Jaemin joins them in their staring.

“It’s so nice outside,” Renjun observes, “when there’s nobody else around.”

Jaemin can practically hear the gears in Jeno’s brain whirring. “We can go for a walk,” Jeno proposes. “I don’t think the managers will be awake till later.”

Jaemin lifts an eyebrow, intrigued by the idea. Renjun chews on his bottom lip.

“You mean like… sneak out?” Renjun hedges. He’s always been the rational one.

“It’ll be fine, I promise.” Jeno isn’t looking at the scenery anymore. Jaemin catches his eyes in the reflection of the window.

“Come on, it’ll be fun!” Jaemin joins in on wheedling, reaching to grab Renjun’s hand and stroking his knuckles gently. “Please, _bǎobèi_?”

He knows when it’s worked, because Renjun sighs and slumps against him. “Okay, but if we get caught I’m ratting you two out,” he threatens without a trace of malice in his tone.

Jeno grins broadly and ruffles Renjun’s hair. “You’re so weak for the _bǎobèi_. That’s cute,” he teases.

“I never should’ve taught you two that word,” Renjun muses, slipping out of their hold to find his phone. The sleeves of his hoodie slip down over his hands, obscuring them and creating sweater paws. Renjun might be too cute for both Jaemin and Jeno’s health.

“Why?” Jaemin joins in on the teasing. “Doesn’t it make you blush when we call you that?”

Jeno laughs. It’s a soft, clear sound, like a bell ringing in the wind. Pretty, _just like its owner,_ Jaemin thinks.

“Hurry up and get ready, brats,” Renjun calls, putting his wallet in the pocket of his sweatpants. “Or I’ll leave without you.”

“For someone so reluctant to sneak out two minutes ago, you seem awfully eager to go now,” Jeno snickers, but he goes to retrieve his stuff anyway. Jaemin finds his own phone on the dressing table, and then the three of them are out of their room heading towards the elevator.

Getting out of the hotel itself is easy. There’s no one around, and even the receptionist seems to be nodding off at the desk. It’s once they’re out on the chilly streets that they realize they don’t actually have anywhere to go.

“We can just walk till we find somewhere to eat,” Jaemin suggests, because he is kinda hungry now that he stops to think about it.

There are surprisingly a lot of stores open at this hour, but the three of them are neither technically eighteen nor dressed for the occasion, so they have to skip past the clubs and bars. Finally Jeno pulls out his phone and searches for nearby cafes, finding one within walking distance.

Five minutes later, they’re sitting in a booth at a 24-hour diner. The waitress, who looks like a tired college student working a double shift, serves them their waffles and then returns to dozing at the counter.

Jeno’s squished in on one side with Jaemin, his hand curling around Jaemin’s thigh. He’s got a habit of being touchy with Jaemin and Renjun, even when the cameras are on, to the point that their manager had to kindly tell him to make it less obvious.

Renjun’s opposite them, sleepily shoveling forkfuls of waffle into his mouth. His eyes are slipping shut as he eats, and every so often he’ll shake his head as if to wake himself up.

Jaemin feels so light and free. He could do this forever, with just the two of them.

“So, how was it today, Nana?” Jeno asks quietly after they’ve finished their plates. He pulls at a loose thread on Jaemin’s sweatpants absentmindedly.

“Weird, but it was fun. I’m okay.” Jaemin tacks on that last part because he knows that’s what Jeno really wants to know.

“That’s good,” Renjun chimes in, but his words are cut off by his own yawn. He rests his chin on his curled fist, eyelids drooping.

“You alright, _bǎobèi_?” Jeno asks. Jaemin can hear the endeared amusement in his voice.

“‘M fine,” Renjun mumbles, but his eyes slip shut a second later.

Jaemin reaches across the table to grab Renjun’s free hand, his heartbeat skipping when he notices how small Renjun’s hand is in comparison to his own. It’s not the first time they’ve held hands, but the realization gets Jaemin every time.

“You wanna go back?” He strokes his thumb across Renjun’s knuckles gently, making the other boy stir slightly.

With effort, Renjun blinks his eyes open. Jaemin can feel Jeno laughing silently beside him. “I’m fine,” he repeats, with more determination. “You two wanted to go for a walk, right? Come on, we’re going for a walk.”

He gets up, nearly trips on the tiled floor (god he’s so cute, _so cute_ ) and makes his way to the cashier. Jaemin and Jeno share a bemused look, until Renjun beckons them from the door and they stand up to follow him out.

“Was it your turn to pay?” Jeno throws an arm around Renjun’s shoulders when they catch up to him, his other hand linked with Jaemin’s.

Renjun shrugs. “You can buy me bubble tea to make up for it. Let’s go, the waitress told me there’s a park nearby.”

“Sure you’re not going to fall asleep standing upright?” Jaemin teases, leaning across Jeno to peck Renjun on the cheek. As he pulls back, he does it to Jeno too, who grins widely.

Meanwhile, Renjun blushes to the roots of his hair. He masks it by grumbling, “Hurry up, we have to go back soon,” and pulling them along.

The park ends up being more like a tiny square of grass with a single tree planted in it, amidst the concrete jungle around them. It makes Renjun pout, but his efforts don’t go unappreciated.

“It was a really nice tree,” Jeno tries as they’re heading back towards their hotel. Renjun’s walking in the middle this time, which is always cute because Renjun is smaller than both Jeno and Jaemin, and he looks even smaller between them.

“Yeah,” Jaemin pipes up, waving his phone around. “I took a picture of it and everything.”

That makes Renjun pout harder, which in turn makes Jeno laugh out loud, the sound echoing in the emptiness of the streets around them.

And Jaemin falls a little more in love with both of them.


	2. renjun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two words: renjun's collarbones

The group chat is exploding when they get back to the hotel after their second day of filming.

They’d finished up around ten this time, after spending most of their day trying to learn how to do tricks on bicycles. Jeno and Jaemin had been particularly adept at it; Renjun had spent most of his time worrying that they were going to fall or crash into the wall.

Throughout the day, Mark had sent multiple pictures of their attempts to the huge group chat with all eighteen members in it. Renjun hadn’t had much time to check it during the day, but he settles into the car to slowly flick through the messages as they head back to the hotel.

There are pictures of Jeno tilting the bike back on its hind wheel, balancing precariously; there’s Chenle and Jisung curled up together in a corner, napping; a shot that Jaemin had taken of Mark and Donghyuck ‘arguing’ (read: aggressively flirting) over lunch; and there’s Renjun against the backdrop of the setting sun. He’s mid-laugh, talking to someone out of frame—Chenle, he remembers—and Renjun absolutely does not remember having this picture taken.

 _jeno, be careful!!!!_ Taeyong had scolded, before sending a smiley face and _injun looks good!_

And then Yukhei: _chensung is the couple of the year and anyone who disagrees can fight me._ He isn’t wrong, Renjun thinks.

That had devolved into a giant mess consisting of Jaehyun voicing his support for Markhyuck and Yuta defending his love of Yuwin (Sicheng sent a single skull emoji in response and then went offline), which is currently still ongoing. Renjun puts his phone down.

“Hey.” He leans forward to poke Mark in the passenger seat, making the older jolt a little. “Did you take that picture?” It’s as good a guess as any, since Mark likes collecting memories and takes a lot of pictures (though they’re mostly of Donghyuck. Not dating, yeah right).

Mark turns his head, giving Renjun a quizzical look. “Which one?”

Renjun unlocks his phone to show him, and Mark snorts in response. “No, but I did see two lovesick idiots hiding behind a pillar with a camera. Maybe you should ask them.”

Jeno’s grinning when Renjun turns to look at him, his pupils disappearing into his eye-smile. “Guilty,” he admits.

On his other side, Jaemin waves his phone around, the screen lighting up to reveal that exact picture of Renjun on the lockscreen. “You look cute,” he tells Renjun without a trace of shame.

The way they’re looking at him makes Renjun’s face heat up. “Oh, shut up,” he manages to mumble, “Creeps,” he adds weakly, without a single ounce of malice.

Jeno chuckles. Jaemin shrugs, a mischievous little twinkle in his eyes. “It’s not our fault our boyfriend is so pretty.”

* * *

Boyfriend. _Boyfriend_. Renjun has two of them, for quite a while now, but it never fails to make him redden just thinking about it.

It’s just that Jaemin and Jeno have known each other for much longer than Renjun’s known either of them. Back when he’d first joined the company, a part of Renjun always thought they’d end up together.

And they did. Just with Renjun in the mix, too.

They’re good at making sure Renjun never feels out of place, always showering him with affection and ensuring he’s comfortable. Renjun is terribly grateful for them.

But they can be absolute terrors, too.

“ _Bǎobèi_ ,” Jaemin breathes into Renjun’s ear, crowding him against the closet door. Renjun swallows with difficulty; Jaemin’s eyes dart down, his gaze landing on Renjun’s mouth.

“Nana, we have a shoot tomorrow,” Renjun tells him with very little conviction in his voice. The way Jaemin is looking at him makes his knees want to buckle.

Jaemin’s breath ghosts across Renjun’s lips as he leans in. “I won’t leave any marks,” he promises, then adds as an afterthought, “where people can see, anyway.”

Renjun’s ensuing weak protest is drowned out by Jaemin’s mouth against his. Jaemin lets his teeth dip gently into Renjun’s lower lip, his fingers curling into the hair at the nape of Renjun’s neck.

The shower door slides open, and Jaemin pulls away. He’s wearing that familiar mischievous look as he turns to look at Jeno, who seems to be taking a moment to assess the situation.

Renjun is left slightly breathless, body feeling too warm and his lips tingling.

“Not tired, are you babe?” Jaemin asks cheekily, his gaze on Jeno.

Jeno shrugs, toweling his hair dry in apparent nonchalance, but the corner of his mouth turns up in a little smirk. “Hardly. Why, what are we doing?”

So here Renjun is. He blames his own inability to deny Jeno, Jaemin and especially both of them together anything. To be fair, he did try before, but he’s always found himself back here, so Renjun’s pretty much learned to let it flow.

Besides, it’s not like he hates it.

“You good, _bǎobèi_?” Jeno wraps his arms around Renjun’s waist, pulling lightly until Renjun is close enough, his back flush against Jeno’s chest. His lips trail along Renjun’s shoulder blade, making the Chinese boy shiver involuntarily.

Renjun barely manages to nod, his mind spinning into an abyss. Jaemin’s mouthing at his neck, carefully scraping his teeth across the skin at his collarbone, soothing the sting with his tongue.

Jeno distracts him with a kiss, lips warm against Renjun’s. His entire body feels like it’s on fire; the good kind of blaze.

Jaemin pulls away, fingers trailing from Renjun’s shoulder to the dip of his collarbone. He swipes at the red mark he just made, expression thoughtful.

“You know what?” Jaemin muses. Jeno detaches himself from Renjun’s mouth to give Jaemin a curious look; Renjun tries to remember how to breathe.

Jaemin grins slowly, drawling, “I think we should take some pictures.”

* * *

It’s midnight and Renjun is running on pure adrenaline, slipping out through the hotel’s glass doors and onto the streets of LA.

Jaemin is giggling as he follows. “Come on, Injunnie,” he sings, taking Renjun’s left hand. Jeno slips his fingers through the right one.

The hoodie Renjun’s wearing is far too big for him (it’s Jeno’s) but that’s kind of the point, really. He pretends not to see the glances Jeno and Jaemin sneak at him as the hoodie practically slides off his shoulders.

They retrace their path to the diner from the night before. The same waitress is on duty, but this time they just get milkshakes and fries.

“You know, _bǎobèi_ ,” Jaemin muses, sipping at his chocolate shake, “that was fun.”

“We should do it again sometime,” Jeno adds, his tone playful.

“You two are shameless,” Renjun sighs in disappointment (but not really) and goes to take a sip of his strawberry shake. He hears the click of a shutter and immediately looks up, just in time to catch Jeno putting his phone down.

“I’m not wearing makeup,” Renjun protests, aghast. He surely looks like a mess now; his lips are redder than usual, and his hair absolutely refuses to stop looking like he’d just rolled out of bed, and this _stupid_ hoodie won’t stop slipping down—

“Still pretty,” Jaemin insists, taking a look at Jeno’s phone. “Ooh, that’s nice, send me that one.”

Jeno grins and tilts the screen towards Renjun. “See, Injun? You look fine. More than fine.”

It’s a perfectly candid picture. Renjun’s in the middle of drinking his milkshake, the stripy green straw a contrast against his red lips. Most obviously of all, the neck of his hoodie has slid off his left shoulder, revealing a tiny purple bruise the size of a coin.

Renjun’s long known that both Jeno and Jaemin have a tiny thing for giving him lovebites, but this whole photography thing is new.

“Are you keeping that?” He checks, already half-expecting the answer.

“Would you delete a work of art?” is Jeno’s simple reply. He smiles and lifts his phone to take another picture of Renjun’s blushing face.

Jaemin laughs delightedly. “This photoshoot thing is my best idea yet.”

They go back to that sorry excuse for a park and take more pictures.

Mostly, it’s Renjun in them, but sometimes he steals Jeno’s phone and takes a shot of Jaemin leaning down to pluck a flower, or Jeno trying to climb the lone tree.

He flicks through the rest of the pictures while Jaemin and Jeno sprawl out on the grass around him, Jeno’s head in Jaemin’s lap and his arm thrown across Renjun’s.

There are ones that Renjun hadn’t even known they’d taken, where he’s attempting to weave a flower bracelet to zero avail; trying unsuccessfully to reach the first branch of the tree; looking up to try and find the stars among the city lights.

“What are you even going to do with these?” Renjun muses out of curiosity.

“Print them out and frame them?” Jaemin replies immediately in a ‘duh’ tone.

Renjun flicks his thumb, and lands on a picture taken inside the hotel room. He remembers what happened: he’d been dazed after having the _life_ kissed out of him, while Jeno and Jaemin were supposedly getting ready to sneak out. In the photo, he’s sitting on the bed, hair a wild mess and his lips swollen. Most incriminatingly of all, he’s got a hand pulling down the collar of his shirt, fingers thumbing at one of the newly-minted bruises on his collarbone, gaze fixated on the dressing table mirror.

Renjun yelps and almost drops the phone. “What is that?” He demands, swiveling around. His boyfriends sit up to take a proper look at the screen.

“That’s a masterpiece,” Jeno says very seriously, and Jaemin nods.

There’s nothing left to do but be resigned. “Please don’t ever send that to anyone,” Renjun pleads.

“Of course not,” Jaemin agrees, wrapping an arm around Renjun’s shoulders. “That’s for our eyes only, _bǎobèi_.”

He leans in for a kiss, and Jeno laces their fingers together, so Renjun lets himself be reassured.

* * *

When Renjun wakes up, his phone is blowing up again, which is strange because everyone should be either asleep or practicing back in Korea.

He opens the group chat and immediately regrets it.

 **nana <3:** [image attached]

 **doyoung hyung:** OH MY GOD

 **taeyong hyung:** NA JAEMIN

 **kun gē:** HUANG RENJUN

 **nana <3:** … oops

 **nana <3: **wrong chat?

 **nana <3:** to be fair jeno took it

 **nono <3:** top ten anime betrayals

 **doyoung hyung:** LEE JENO

 **hyuck:** is that why you didn’t answer the door when i knocked

 **taeyong hyung:** you’re all grounded.


End file.
